Handling of liquid samples, reagents, and other liquids is an essential part of the implementation of automated clinical chemistry test methods. Precision sample probes are used to aspirate and/or dispense these liquids in conventional clinical chemistry analyzers. For economy, sample probes are reused. Accordingly, sample probes are automatically cleansed, rinsed, and dried at a cleansing and rinsing station (a.k.a. a drain station) within conventional clinical chemistry analyzers. This is intended to limit an extent of carry-over of a previous sample and/or reagent artifacts (“carry-over”) or carry-over of rinse water that may dilute samples and/or reagents (“dilution”). Such carry-over and/or dilution may affect an accuracy of the clinical tests being performed on a sample.
The tasks carried out by a conventional chemical analyzer drain station are: (1) to clean and rinse the sample probe(s) that will be used to access the sample and/or reagent so as to minimize carry-over, and thereafter (2) to dry the sample probe(s) to make the sample probe(s) ready for reuse on a next sample or next sample test sequence.
Improvement of the effectiveness of such drain stations may improve the accuracy of tests performed by the clinical chemistry analyzer. Accordingly, there is a need to improve the effectiveness of the cleansing, rinsing, and drying processes carried out by clinical chemistry analyzer drain stations.